1)
Arjuna said: O Krsna, first of all You ask me to renounce work, and then again
You recommend work with devotion. Now will You kindly tell me definitely which
of the two is more beneficial?

2) The
Blessed Lord said: The renunciation of work and work in devotion are both good
for liberation. But, of the two, work in devotional service is better than
renunciation of works.

3) One
who neither hates nor desires the fruits of his activities is known to be
always renounced. Such a person, liberated from all dualities, easily overcomes
material bondage and is completely liberated, O mighty-armed Arjuna.

4)
Only the ignorant speak of karma-yoga and devotional service as being different
from the analytical study of the material world [sankhya]. Those who are
actually learned say that he who applies himself well to one of these paths
achieves the results of both.

5) One
who knows that the position reached by means of renunciation can also be
attained by works in devotional service and who therefore sees that the path of
works and the path of renunciation are one, sees things as they are.

6)
Unless one is engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, mere renunciation
of activities cannot make one happy. The sages, purified by works of devotion,
achieve the Supreme without delay.

7) One
who works in devotion, who is a pure soul, and who controls his mind and
senses, is dear to everyone, and everyone is dear to him. Though always
working, such a man is never entangled.

8-9) A
person in the divine consciousness, although engaged in seeing, hearing,
touching, smelling, eating, moving about, sleeping and breathing, always knows
within himself that he actually does nothing at all. Because while speaking,
evacuating, receiving, opening or closing his eyes, he always knows that only
the material senses are engaged with their objects and that he is aloof from
them.

10)
One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the
Supreme God, is not affected by sinful action, as the lotus leaf is untouched
by water.

11)
The yogis, abandoning attachment, act with body, mind, intelligence, and even
with the senses, only for the purpose of purification.

12)
The steadily devoted soul attains unadulterated peace because he offers the
result of all activities to Me; whereas a person who is not in union with the
Divine, who is greedy for the fruits of his labor, becomes entangled.

13)
When the embodied living being controls his nature and mentally renounces all
actions, he resides happily in the city of nine gates [the material body],
neither working nor causing work to be done.

14)
The embodied spirit, master of the city of his body, does not create
activities, nor does he induce people to act, nor does he create the fruits of
action. All this is enacted by the modes of material nature.

15)
Nor does the Supreme Spirit assume anyone's sinful or pious activities.
Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of the ignorance which covers
their real knowledge.

16)
When, however, one is enlightened with the knowledge by which nescience is
destroyed, then his knowledge reveals everything, as the sun lights up
everything in the daytime.

17)
When one's intelligence, mind, faith and refuge are all fixed in the Supreme,
then one becomes fully cleansed of misgivings through complete knowledge and
thus proceeds straight on the path of liberation.

18)
The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision a learned
and gentle brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste].

19)
Those whose minds are established in sameness and equanimity have already
conquered the conditions of birth and death. They are flawless like Brahman,
and thus they are already situated in Brahman.

20) A
person who neither rejoices upon achieving something pleasant nor laments upon
obtaining something unpleasant, who is self-intelligent, unbewildered, and who
knows the science of God, is to be understood as already situated in
Transcendence.

21)
Such a liberated person is not attracted to material sense pleasure or external
objects but is always in trance, enjoying the pleasure within. In this way the
self-realized person enjoys unlimited happiness, for he concentrates on the
Supreme.

22) An
intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery, which are due
to contact with the material senses. O son of Kunti, such pleasures have a
beginning and an end, and so the wise man does not delight in them.

23)
Before giving up this present body, if one is able to tolerate the urges of the
material senses and check the force of desire and anger, he is a yogi and is
happy in this world.

24)
One whose happiness is within, who is active within, who rejoices within and is
illumined within, is actually the perfect mystic. He is liberated in the
Supreme, and ultimately he attains the Supreme.

25)
One who is beyond duality and doubt, whose mind is engaged within, who is
always busy working for the welfare of all sentient beings, and who is free
from all sins, achieves liberation in the Supreme.

26)
Those who are free from anger and all material desires, who are self-realized,
self-disciplined and constantly endeavoring for perfection, are assured of
liberation in the Supreme in the very near future.

27-28)
Shutting out all external sense objects, keeping the eyes and vision
concentrated between the two eyebrows, suspending the inward and outward
breaths within the nostrils--thus controlling the mind, senses and
intelligence, the transcendentalist becomes free from desire, fear and anger.
One who is always in this state is certainly liberated.

29)
The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and
austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor
and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material
miseries.

30)
Thus Bhaktivedanta sings the song of Sri Gita, with the hope that hearing this,
Krsna conscious pure devotees will be pleased.